West Chester native Maggie Pina had originally set out to play field hockey at Villanova University, but later switched paths to join the women’s basketball team at Boston University. Now, she has combined her love of both sports at the college level, writes Mark Fraenkel for Boston University’s The Daily Free Press.

Normally, balancing sports, studying, and/or working all at once can be taxing for student-athletes. Pina has the unusual goal of becoming a dual-sport athlete at Boston University, playing both field hockey and basketball due to a lighter class load and extra year of eligibility.

After doing well for her freshman year, averaging 11.5 points per basketball game and landing the Patriot League Rookie of the Year Award in 2020, she realized how much she missed playing field hockey.

Although on scholarship for basketball, she was tried out and was added to the university’s field hockey team. This fall, Pina is balancing the field hockey season with basketball’s preseason.

“I plan to go to law school either to become a criminal justice defense attorney, or maybe the FBI,” said Pina. “I think also just having so much going on will really be an asset to me in law school, being able to do time management and get through everything I have to in limited amounts of time.”

Read more about Maggie Pina in the Daily Free Press.